Chicago Fire season 8: Catch up on what’s happened so far

Before Chicago Fire season 8 returns, refresh your memory on everything that’s happened on Chicago Fire during the first nine episodes.

It’s less than a week until Chicago Fire comes back, so do you remember everything and everyone important from the first part of the season? If you don’t, never fear—we’ve put together this quick catch-up guide!

One Chicago’s firefighting drama has been off the air for almost two months, and that’s no small winter hiatus! Not to mention, there have already been some sizeable plot twists as well as one cliffhanger ending. So there’s a lot of information to pick back up if you want to be prepared for the spring premiere next week.

Here’s everything you need to know about Chicago Fire season 8 so far.

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Character comings and goings: Brian “Otis” Zvonecek (Yuri Sardarov) was the firefighter who died in the Arnow Mattress Factory fire that started in the previous finale. Otis succumbed to injuries in this season’s premiere, and a monument was built outside Firehouse 51 in his honor.

Otis’s replacement was Blake Gallo (new series regular Alberto Rosende), who had caught the eye of our heroes after they saw him take a life-threatening risk to rescue someone. While Rosende was originally billed as a recurring guest star, he was promoted to series regular last month.

Dawson returned, again: Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund) returned for the second time in two seasons, as her organization was hosting a fundraiser in Chicago. Dawson invited her ex-husband Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) to be her date, and the two ended up having sex that night.

Dawson then left Casey a voicemail saying there would be room in her tent in Puerto Rico for him any time. So while Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) may have broken off her engagement, it doesn’t look like she’ll be getting together with Casey anytime soon.

At least Brett’s ex-boyfriend Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) got engaged to Chloe (recurring guest star Kristen Gutoskie)?

A new career for Stella: Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) is the future of Firehouse 51, at least in the opinion of Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker). Boden sent Stella to a firefighter’s retreat, even though only officers were expected to attend. And when she impressed the staff there, he got her a job teaching at the fire academy. But all this extra stuff was too much for Stella and she caused a car accident in the midseason finale, leading Boden to agree he’d pushed her too hard.

And one for Severide: Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) also got a new gig, spending several Chicago Fire episodes working as an arson investigator. But someone didn’t check the basement well on his last call, resulting in the final scene of the fall finale being Severide about to come face-to-face with a deadly arsonist. Will he survive? Probably, but you’ll have to wait until next week to find out for sure.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 8 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.